Jean de La Fontaine

Timeline

1. 1621–1658Château-Thierry · Château-ThierryLa Fontaine was born in Château-Thierry in the Champagne region. He received a religious and classical education in his youth, later inheriting the family estate and holding local office, while beginning to experiment with poetry and narrative writing.
2. 1658–1683Paris · ParisHe moved to Paris, where, supported by patrons such as Fouquet, he published successive volumes of his Fables along with narrative poems and theatrical adaptations, using the fable form to satirize the court, the church, and social ills, and rapidly gained fame.
3. 1683–1695Paris · ParisAfter many years as a candidate, he was elected to the French Academy in 1693. In his later years he continued revising his Fables and taking part in the Academy's affairs, dying in Paris in 1695 and being buried there.